Just Right
by Kpooper
Summary: The depth of a relationship is not measured by time nor experience, but on how much the two parties involved have invested into it, and how much more they're willing to work on it. This isn't just the story of Hiroko and her childhood neighbours, Oikawa Tooru and Iwaizumi Hajime, but of every player that's touched her life and how that's affected her and her two boys. 7-day rewrite
1. Chapter 1 - The Early Stages

**Disclaimer (Dis also a claimer):** Characters and the cannon plot in this fanfiction belongs to Furudate Haruichi. All OCs, other information, or events (that are not cannon) belong to this fanfiction's authors and are entirely fictional. Any potential similarity to any persons or information that have existed or is currently existing is purely coincidental. This disclaimer applies to every chapter in this story.

* * *

 **Chapter 1: The Early Stages**

A young woman in her early thirties approached a hospital bed, a bundle of baby blue blankets held firmly, yet gently in her arms. Another younger woman lay on the aforementioned bed with another swath of white cloth in her arms as well. The two ladies peered down, cooing at the sight of the infant girl in the younger woman's arms. Suddenly an arm shot up from the blue heap, and the other infant in the room tried to crawl out of his mother's arms to take a look at what stole away the attention that he felt was rightfully his, and his alone.

"Aaaaww!" cried Mrs. Oikawa as she carried her son towards the other infant. "Tooru's excited to see her as well!"

"Tooru, this is your new friend Hiroko" Mrs. Takenaka introduced the curious boy to her first-born, all the while giggling at her friend's antics.

Little Hiroko then blinked up at Tooru as he tugged on the her ear, a faint look of irritation on his face and she smiled back up at him. The mothers didn't notice this slight exchange however as they began to talk animatedly about random topics.

* * *

Hiroko grew up in a slightly strict but nevertheless jovial and warm household. Next door, lived the Iwaizumis and across the street to the far right of the block lived the Oikawas. As a first-born a lot was expected of her so it wasn't very surprising when she began to learn to play the piano at the age of two and began to figure skate the year after.

"Takenaka-san!" called Iwaizumi from across the park where Hiroko's ten-old self was gliding across the ice surface of the frozen pond. She figured when she was younger that ice skating was a good way to pass time whenever she needed to sort through her thoughts. Hiroko glanced at his figure noting the annoyed expression on his companions face.

"Hajime-kun! Tooru-kun!" Hiroko yelled, making a turn and skating towards them. "I told you to call me Hiroko already," she whined as she skidded to halt before them. She took her bag that Hajime was holding up, kneeling down and swapping her skates for her boots.

As Hiroko finished placing the cases for the blades a hand shot itself in front of her face. She looked up to see Oikawa's beaming face and immediately comprehended that he mustn't have been very happy that she was joining them.

Hiroko took his hand and he pulled her up with more force than necessary. She swung past his right side and he immediately let go making her stumble forwards a bit before she was able to regain her balance and straighten her posture. She turned around to see Iwaizumi glaring at Oikawa before looking over at her and casting an apologetic smile.

"Trashykawa and I were just about to head over to the supermarket to carry out some chores," he said. "Wanna come with with?"

"Sure. I'll treat you both to ice-cream."

"Ehhh!?" Oikawa exclaimed. "In this weather Hiro-chan?!"

"Why not?"

"By the way, you're birthday's coming up soon isn't it Taken-" Hiroko scowled, "H-Hiroko-san?" Hajime corrected himself.

"Yeah"

"And I didn't get an invite?" asked Oikawa.

"You guys come over every year anyway," she said.

They arrived at the store and Hajime told them to wait even though Hiroko persistently indicated that she wanted to go and select ice-cream. Iwaizumi even went as far as rejecting the money she offered him and told them it was his treat.

When he left, an awkward silence ensued. She subconsciously began to stare at Oikawa when he was looking away. She soon noticed this, but instead of turning her gaze elsewhere her stare sharpened as she observed his visage and began to ponder over whether or not she should ask him about what's been bugging her for as long as she can remember.

Oikawa snapped his head towards her suddenly and they locked eyes with each other. He frowned. "Why are you looking at me like that Hiro-chan?" A sly grin formed on his face. "Can it be that you have a crush on me?" he inquired teasingly.

"No." I stated so calmly that it surprised me. "I just wanted to ask you something." It was then that panic flooded my mind.

"Yes?" he inquired eagerly.

"T-Tooru do you hate me?"

Unexpectedly, Oikawa's eyes widened and he bowed his head, a light pink hue forming on his cheeks out of embarrassment. "I-I don't hate you okay?" he muttered loud enough for her to hear. "I just… I really… I feel… It's just instinctive."

For a moment Hiroko looked at him skeptically. A giggle escaped her mouth. "That's really cute." Then she was laughing so hard that she had to bend over to clutch her sides.

The doors of the store slid open and Iwaizumi came out. She quickly stifled her laughter when Iwaizumi arrived and she and Oikawa turned away from each other. Iwaizumi noticed this and raised a brow inquisitively but said nothing.

They started to walk back in silence when Iwaizumi abruptly stuck his hand and into the bag and shuffled through its contents a bit. "Banana or strawberry?"

"Chocolate, please." Hiroko grinned cheekily.

Iwaizumi must have anticipated this because he fished out a chocolate flavoured popsicle and handed it to her. Hiroko wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck before she accepted it from him and slowly nibbled on the treat. After a while she decided to initiate conversation.

"So, where are you going for junior high, Hajime-kun?"

Iwaizumi glanced at Oikawa to his right before directing his attention back to Hiroko. "Kitagawa Daiichi", he replied. "You?"

"Same"

"Really?" Iwaizumi asked surprised.

"Yeah", she replied lamely. Hiroko glanced at her watch without really looking for the time. "I've got to go now. I have piano lessons. See you tomorrow!"

"Bye!" called out Iwaizumi. He then elbowed Oikawa who muttered a low goodbye. However the raven-haired girl barely noticed this as she sped away from them and towards her house, not taking any chances of slipping up and giving way to her epic lie.

"I'm home", Hiroki called for the entire house to hear as the swung the front door open. She switched her footwear leaning on the door for support.

"We're at the table" yelled her brother, four years her junior.

Hideaki was a charming and intelligent boy who was often quite annoying but otherwise amenable. He shared the same onyx eyes as Hiroko that they inherited from their father. Unlike his sister who had wavy and slightly bushy jet black hair, he had straight dark chestnut hair that reached till his jawline and slightly long fringes that fell across his forehead.

Hiroko arrived at the dining room where her mom was setting down the cutlery for dinner. She sat down beside Hideaki. She greeted her father who sat across her just as her mother set down the bowls of rice and sat next to him.

Hideaki began to talk about the show he watched on television and before Hiroko knew it they were all participating in a heated argument between which English movies were the best. Her mind then drifted to the earlier conversation with Iwaizumi.

"Mama, Papa can I go to Kitagawa Daiichi next year?" she asked with her fingers crossed under the table. All eyes swiftly met hers.

"Why Kitagawa Daiichi?" her mother asked.

"A-ah… well…," she stumbled over her words. The lines she had planed and recited repeatedly in her head on her way back earlier seemed to have disappeared. "Hajime-san said he was going there and I think Tooru-san might be going there too. I won't have anyone to hang around with in school when Amaya leaves for Australia. So…"

"Well, I supposed it's alright", her Dad grunted. "The academic standards of that school are quite high anyway. But I thought you really wanted to go to Shiratorizawa's Junior Academy? Besides Shiratorizawa has an outstanding reputation to go with it's good standards."

Hiroko faltered. It's true she's always wanted to go to Shiratorizawa ever since fourth grade. She's heard so much about the legends that have graduated from the escalator school. She had always felt that having Shiratorizawa on her life's resume was pretty much a golden pass into any university in Japan, maybe even the world.

It spent her over a year to convince her dad that Shiratorizawa was the best school for her, and she didn't have that much time to change his mind again. Not with the enrollment and registration season for junior and senior high freshmen just around the corner. She was so enthusiastic she spent time gathering information and calculations of the overall tuition and lunch cost and how much they'd have to set aside on a weekly/monthly basis, just for that damn prestigious school. And no matter how much she'd want to bathe in all that goodness, she also wanted to tag along with Iwaizumi and Oikawa.

 _But Kitagawa Daiichi is also one of the most popular schools in the prefecture._

 _But Shiratorizawa-_

"W-well..."

"Hiroko darling, it's alright," her mother gently took Hiroko's tightly crossed hands into her own, sensing the young girl's tension and inner conflict. "Don't worry to much over it. Your dad will discuss this later okay? It's just a shock, you know. Your sudden change of heart that is."

Hiroko felt a searing hot sensation crawl up into her cheeks. She didn't go red or anything, she never did. So her family barely noticed her embarrassment. Still, she didn't want to look up to meet their eyes. From the moment her mom started cooing at her, Hiroko knew that she'd have that warm, reassuring smile plastered on her face. And stubborn may she seem, she didn't want any of it.

With Hiroko's mood dampened, the topic came to a close. When dinner ended she lugged her weight upstairs and all the way to her room. She settled for flipping through the pages of an empty notebook, staring blankly at the lines. A couple of hours later she rolled out her futon and settled in, falling into a deep dreamless slumber.

* * *

 **~A/N~**

Hey guys. I'm not much for long author's notes, but there's a bit of a complication I'd rather straighten out. This was originally a story of Papillon Mystre's. Since she's leaving the site and has already deleted the previous version of the story, I took over (with her grateful approval of course). Apparently she also didn't want to drop the story for the sake of any previous readers. So to all readers old and new, welcome!

I'll be balancing two stories on this site and another story elsewhere, so please feel free to spam my PM if I you think haven't updated in a while.

Tbh I really am a pretty huge HQ fan. It's one of the animes that are so good I can't help but read the manga I read. I don't really have biases with this sort of thing but Tsukiii... Anyway enjoy! Follow, PM and review. PS. I'll try to not spoilers ;)

 **A/N (Papillon Mystere):** Oikawa is someone I think would put up a defensive wall against those he seem wary of, *cough* Kageyama *cough*, and although he might have been right to do so it Kageyama's case, he still does so for our new character, Hiroko. I hope Hiroko's personality is okay for you guys. She might be a bit disconnected somewhat, but things will happen. I really hope you enjoyed the first chapter.


	2. Chapter 2 - Welcome to Shiratorizawa

**Chapter 2: Welcome to Shiratorizawa**

Hiroko debated against her parents over which junior high school she was going to go to throughout the winter and up until graduation. They had her answer the entrance exam, and she didn't prepare for it at all, although she did answer the best that she can, feeling guilty about how much her dad spent to send her on it. The chances of her getting in were close to none anyway, considering that competition was high and only a few percentage of applicants actually to get admitted after the selection process. Basically a review of her performances in elementary, co- and extra-curricular activities, and her grade on the entrance exam.

It was during graduation that her father congratulated and included jovially that she had miraculously passed the entrance exams. She began throwing a tantrum, but he told her that he had already invested into her education in Shiratorizawa, and that she would be attending there whether she liked it or not. Hiroko bitterly thought that she shouldn't have even _tried_ , cursing her conscience.

So that was probably how she found herself walking the grounds of the large school campus on the last day of the school week. She was so upset about what she felt was her parents' betrayal, that she hadn't attended the first half of the week, even for the entrance ceremony. Which was probably why she was left wandering, her head turning left and right, her eyes flitting around even faster, trying to somehow absorb everything and help her find her way through the new environment.

First was the wide grounds that served both as walkways (for students, faculties and visitors), and as roads (she had this inkling of a suspicion that the school didn't seem hire to transport services from companies, and that they owned their own buses).

It seemed more like a university campus really. The buildings were so contemporary, they seemed more like a private hospital or a mall rather than that of education purposes. She walked under the skywalk, looking upward with her mouth agape.

 _'They had a frigging skywalk!'_

There were a lot of students milling around, over a thousand maybe, or even _two_ _thousand_. Even so, it was cramped or anything. The crowd was indeed busy. Yet it was still so spacious that students didn't have to push or brush against each other as they walked past.

A thought flickered through her head and as soon as it did she regretted it. 'I bet Kitagawa Daiichi doesn't even amount to half of this.' She mentally scolded her brain, which might have seemed pointless but still did the job anyway.

She walked around a bit more exploring the place, she came across a couple more buildings, a few parked buses which confirmed her earlier suspicion, a football field, even a horse-riding field which had her taken aback for a fraction of a minute, and some sort of garden surrounded by topiaries and a semi-large greenhouse in the centre. The garden was pretty impressive and magnificently balanced both Western and Japanese styles, with a rock garden that slowly transition into a field of grass, trimmed hedges, trees, and flowers.

It wasn't until a bell rang in the near distance that Hiroko actually took the time to look at the time. After a quick glance at her watch, she realised that she only had 10 minutes to get to class before the teacher came in and classes officially started.

This wouldn't usually be much of a problem. Except that her school campus was now 15 times larger than her elementary, and she still had no idea which building her class was in. She recalled seeing signs somewhere near the entrance of the school, so she tried to retrace her steps, following the few students walking towards a general direction.

They began to split off and go on their own ways a few turns later, so she quickly tried to catch up to one who looked around her age. A skinny boy only albeit shorter than her.

"Excuse me. Do you know where the junior high classrooms are?"

The boy seemed to be caught by surprise for a moment, before he straightened his composure and smiled brightly, a little too brightly, at her. "Sorry, I'm senior high, so I can't really guide you there. Opposite direction, you know. Nakamura-san might be able to help you though," hand-pointing to a girl walking just behind them who looked up at her name being called.

"Yes, senpai?"

"Nakamura, she's a first year or a tranferee I think. Doesn't know the way to the building."

"O-oh, of course," the taller girl stammered, her cheeks dusted a vividly bright red which Hiroko was pretty sure the guy was aware of. "You don't have to bother yourself with it anymore, senpai. I'll walk with her." The girl's eyes darted to Hiroko, "Come with me," her voice shifted to a more controlled tone. The two girls curtsied to their senior before going on their way.

They had to jog a little bit, but reached the building anyway with 5 minutes to spare. As soon as they entered the three-storey building, a loud wave of noise that echoed through the hallways, invaded their ears. It seemed more like they were in an amusement park rather than a school building. Someone screamed and laughed loudly from an above floor.

"Probably the first years," Nakamura muttered. "The teachers don't seem to be around," she said glancing at some third-years probably that were flitting in and out of the classrooms. "They might be at a faculty meeting so I probably have time to take you to your class."

"Thank you very much," Hiroko said bowing her head.

"So what's your name?" Nakamura asked as they walked up a flight of stairs. Whether out of curiosity or politeness, Hiroko didn't care to know, until Nakamura continued, "I need to know who to use as an excuse if my teacher gets to class before I do." She smiled.

Hiroko must've looked horrified because Nakamura instantly fretted and laughed over her, "Kidding, just kidding. You won't get into any trouble, of course."

"It's... Takenaka Hiroko. 1st year, class 8."

"That's nice. Lucky number. My brother's a first year too. I'm in my last year of junior high."

"I see. Are you close with the senpai from this morning?" Hiroko wondered.

She didn't miss how Nakamura blushed at the mention of him. "A-ah. We're both in the broadcasting club. He's the club president of the seniors and I'm the president of the juniors." She blushed even deeper, "W-we work t-t-together whenever we need to collaborate."

Hiroko smiled slightly at the older girls expense. She was about to ask some more until they stopped. "This is the top floor. 1st years classrooms are here, second-years are right below and third years are at the ground floor," Nakamura explained rapidly. "I'll see you when I do. Good luck!"

With her third-year companion suddenly gone, Hiroko had to again focus more on her surroundings. The loud chatter and screaming was louder than ever, signalling that the majority of the noise really did come from the first years. She took off to the right and realised that she started off the wrong end, right away. The classrooms started to count down from class 15, then 14, and so on.

She decided to continue all the way around, even though the hallways were very crowded. She got quick glances at the classrooms as she passed by, and they seemed to have more students outside than inside of it.

It was only when she arrived back at the staircase she came from did she notice that she passed her own class. She only had a few classes to backtrack till she found her way into her classroom, which was fuller than the others. Probably because a lot of the students were already seated or standing next to their already newfound circle of friends.

Only a few eyes followed her silently as she entered. One of them from the front seat next to the window, even picked up their own bag and went to sit at the opposite corner of the classroom, where he began to talk excitedly with his peers. It was only when she dropped her bag that a few 'welcome's was shouted over the noise of the rest.

Hiroko did sit at the front seat of the class closest to the window, ignoring the meaning behind her classmate's actions. She didn't dislike the spot. In fact it was her usual place back in elementary, knowing that the seating arrangement would hardly disrupt her attention during classes, but rather help increase surveillance of her surroundings. Not of the classroom, but outside.

She began to slump in her seat, perking up only when the student behind her tapped her back. "I'm Miho. Nice to meet you," her classmate said dipping her head a bit before meeting her gaze once more. "So, first week's nearly over. Late enrollement? Or long vacation? If you don't mind me asking."

Yamazaki had a face that looked too young for her age, yet it suited her perfectly and made her look more innocuous as well. She had a round face, short dark hair that barely grazed the base of her neck, and soft brown eyes.

She noticed the name tag on Yamazaki's bag and discovered that her given name Miho was written as the words beauty and sail in kanji.

"It's alright," Hiroko said giving her a smile. "I'm Takenaka Hiroko. Hiroko's good enough. Well..." Hiroko paused to think then continued slowly, filtering what she would say next. "It's more of the latter really. I didn't want to go to school just yet."

Surprisingly, Miho didn't even bother to read between the lines. "You're the lazy type too, huh? I mean like come on, who isn't?"

Before Yamazaki was able to say anything, the students in the hallways flooded the room and the teacher followed behind them barely a few seconds later. The chairs and tables scraped slightly against the floor as the students rose from their seats or returned to their places. They teacher introduced himself and greeted them, the students chanting a pleasant 'Good morning' in unison.

* * *

It wasn't until she was walking back home from the school bus stop for the area that Hiroko snapped out of her dreamlike state. Dread instantly washed over her and she couldn't for the life of her decide whether she should start walking faster or slower as soon as she entered the residential area. She tried to become as vigilant as possible, keeping to the side of the street so that she could duck from view as quickly as she can.

Kitagawa Daiichi had started with school the same day as Shiratorizawa just like most of the schools in the country. And Hiroko hadn't told Iwaizumi and Oikawa yet. About not getting to go to Kitagawa Daiichi. In fact, she's been avoiding them over the spring break and that in itself was no easy feat considering the fact that Iwaizumi lived _right next door_.

Also, her parents weren't very cooperative with her. The past week, she had just had her brother tell Iwaizumi that she was going to come in late because she was coming down with a really tough fever that didn't seem to break. Keeping the two out were easy, keeping them from overreacting though, was next to impossible.

At least once for the past four days, they had sent either a pot of okayu, bread and even messily made get-well cards.

The worst part at that moment was that she didn't know where Kitagawa Daiichi is from, therefore she didn't know what streets they'll be taking on the way home. So she got served a pang of embarrassment as she walked up the street. Bad luck loved her so much, that Iwaizumi and Oikawa were coming up too from the opposite street across the crossroads.

She wasn't just embarrassed because she didn't tell them, but because she had thoughts no matter how short-lived that were comparisons of Shiratorizawa and Kitagawa Daiichi. And she enjoyed the school. She liked Shiratorizawa and she got even found herself some friends (at least she hoped they would continue to be so).

And she although she promised that she would she'd transfer as soon as the year was over and that she'd never be happy during her stay there, well she did so anyway. Before going there, she had had thoughts of how she would sit, huddled up in a dark corner of the classroom, not join any clubs, and be so horribly rude to her classmates till they'd hate her. But at the end of it all she's already done what she couldn't undo.

And the most shameful part of all? She didn't regret today at all.

* * *

 **~A/N~**

So I've taken a bit of a turn and now Hiroko's in Shiratorizawa. Mwahahaha. Thanks for reading, and also for the follows and reviews ( _geneee_ and _bla_ ). I really appreciate it. Again please bug me if you feel like I haven't been updating for too long. My other story's been dead for nearly a month and I'm going to be getting back to it too.

 _Bla:_ Thanks for the love. I tried to update as soon as possible so if you're reading this, thank you for waiting.

 **A/N (Papillon Mystere):** So, new characters. I'm sorry for all those who are already having trouble memorising all the other players names, but you'll get used to names of my OCs. Eventually. Also, Hiroko is now beginning to develop affectionate feelings for her boys and she's soo embarrassed by it.

Until next time, Papillon Mystre signing off.


	3. Chapter 3 - Usual Unusual Occurances

**Chapter 3: Usual Unusual Occurrences**

As soon as Oikawa's eyes met Hiroko's from across the crossroad he nudged Iwaizumi who seemed to be scolding him and both boys looked in her direction sending her a wave.

Usually in animes, people at opposite side of the crossroad would have a train, maybe a couple of cars, a crowd of pedestrians, or maybe even a strong gust of wind trying to somehow divert the characters from each other (even though those characters never seem to look away). But everything around them was quiet and still in the goddamn neighbourhood, and Hiroko couldn't even pretend that she didn't notice, or got distracted by something.

Awkwardly, she waved back hoping that they'd hurry up and turn the corner before she did so that she can walk quietly behind them. Of course, they didn't. They didn't even know she was really trying to avoid talking to them. Iwaizumi, though, would at least notice her pretty obvious discomfort. ' _He knows me best'_ , Hiroko though albeit bitterly.

Iwaizumi was the first to stand next to her and fall into step with her. He assumed his usual position to her right, with Oikawa standing on Iwaizumi's other side.

"You should've told us you got better before going to school this morning, Hiroko-san. I heard you're not going to Kitagawa Daiichi?" He looked pointedly at her light blue collared shirt with a bow tie, grey sweater, and strikingly purple skirt- the standard Shiratorizawa girl's uniform. That is, other than the fact that her skirt was longer than the standard, ending halfway past her knees when it usually went down till only mid-thigh.

Hiroko watched his face that wasn't looking at her, but straight ahead. She observed that he was around as tall as her, if not taller, disappointing her a bit when she realized that the two boys who were slightly shorter than her a couple of years ago has now surpassed her height.

"Which school are you going to then, Hiro-chan?"

"I'm going to Shiratorizawa," she replied the less stressful question first, licking the roof of her dry mouth before answering the former. "I'm sorry about that, Hajime. My fever only broke this morning so I decided to go to school suddenly. It'd be a waste skipping a day of school anyway, now that I'm fine."

He sighed and Hiroko knew that was a sign he didn't buy her lie but would go with it anyway, for her sake. Paying too much attention to Iwaizumi's reaction, she missed how Oikawa lightly scoffed at her lie from beside Iwaizumi.

"If you're alright, then it's all good. Ne, ne, Hiro-chan, Iwa-chan and I are in the volleyball club together still even in Kitagawa Daiichi. Wouldn't it be nice to be playing the same team till high-school? Who knows? Maybe even college. Pity you didn't go to Kitagawa Daiichi with us. We could have been in the same class. Or maybe you could've been with Iwa-chan. There's this gir..."

"Have you made any friends in school yet, Hiroko-san?" Iwaizumi asked politely, ignoring Oikawa's rant.

"Well, my seatmate's really kind. She's a bit loud, but she's funny. And she's got a friend apparently from the next class. They're pretty interesting, so I hope they don't mind me hanging out with them tomorrow too."

They talked for about a minute or two until Oikawa seemed to really notice that even though they were talking among themselves, they weren't paying him any attention, _at all_.

"IWA-CHAAAN! HIRO-CHAAAN! YOU TWO ARE SO MEAN!"

Before they can even finish laughing, they shoved Oikawa pushing his own house before going on to their own homes up the same street. They stood in front of the two houses exchanging a short farewell before jogging to the front doors of their respective residences.

* * *

Hiroko was folding paper planes with Hideaki just before bed that same day, when the frazzled young brother yawned and asked Hiroko to get him some chocolate milk.

Hiroko tried to put up an argument about how lazy he was and that she was tired as well but went to get him a drink anyways.

Hiroko tried to enter the dining area as soundlessly as possible to get to the open kitchen and quickly grab some drinks from the refrigerator, so as to not disturb her parents' conversation with the guests. She heard snippets of the talk and picked up something about a hospital and a leave from work.

As Hiroko passed the table and crossed the bar counter, she couldn't help but slightly eavesdrop on the discussion.

"Of course Hajime can stay with us for the time being," her mother said softly.

"I hope it won't be much trouble. It's just a week that we'll be away. And we can't bring him because of school and…"

"Hajime is a good young man," Hiroko's dad said, "He won't cause any trouble for us."

She then proceeded to close the refrigerator after grabbing two cans of guava juice, quickly making her way out of there.

"I hope that your…"

Hiroko swiftly closed the door of Hideaki's room and sat on the mat cross-legged. She placed the cans on the low table.

"Hey, I said milk. Go back and get me milk."

"You go and get it if you want it. I'm not you're slave."

"Sure you are," Hideaki grinned.

Hiroko stuck her tongue out to him.

"By the way, I think Hajime is going to be staying with us for a while," Hiroko informed.

"Why? What happened?"

"His parents are leaving for somewhere. I think. Maybe out of town? Something about a sick person," she shrugged.

"That's so cool. Then we can play games together against you. Boys versus girls," Hideaki made a face at her.

"Oh stop it! You disgusting pig!" Hiroko threw a nearby pillow at him.

They continued to argue friskily, their voices echoing through the windows into the still night. In a room nearby, within another house, young Hajime's attention quickly shifted from his computer game to the louder clamour from the next house.

Iwaizumi made his way towards his window and moved the curtains a bit to spectate the activities of the Takenaka household.

He saw the shadows of his two friends tossing things at each other. Suddenly the sound of a door slamming open resounded and a female adult silhouette came in to scold the two children. Hajime smiled a little at that.

Hajime heard the click of the front door and quickly shut the curtains of his window. He ran to his computer, closed the monitor and unplugged the speakers.

As the knob of his door began to turn, he quickly hit the switch and jumped unto his bed.

His mother opened the door and poked her head into his room to find the lights already off the red nightlight winking on the ceiling. Her son was already asleep in bed. The only sound that could be heard within the small room was the soft whirring noise emitting from the CPU cabinet.

Hajime's mother frowned. "That isn't safe. He must have forgotten to turn it off," she muttered to herself, turning off the main switch and pulling the plug of the extension cord.

She made her way out of the room soon after, closing the door behind her. Hajime hissed in frustration to himself, "Aghh. I didn't get to save the game."

* * *

After the long lecture about having to be disciplined especially about when there are guests around and even when there aren't any, the same mundane repetition, Hiroko's and Hideaki's parents beckoned them to the dining room.

They all sat down at the dining table, the two children eager to hear the news.

"The brother of Yoriko-san has fallen very ill during his business trip abroad and is confined and in a state of coma at a hospital in Manila right now. The Iwaizumi's are going to visit him and will be away for about a week. Their flight is early in the morning tomorrow. Now they can't take Hajime-san with them because he has to go to school."

"So…," Hiroko and Hideaki said together in anticipation.

"So Hajime will be staying with us for the time being from tomorrow onwards," their father finished.

Hiroko was not very surprised that Iwaizumi's parents approached them about this rather than Oikawa's parents. Although Tooru and Hajime were closer friends to each other rather than Hiroko, Their parents were closer to hers than with each other.

They were just about to jump in joy when their mother gave them a stern look that immediately drained them of nearly all emotion.

"You're dismissed. Now go to your rooms both of you. And don't forget to pick up the trash and brush your teeth before you go to sleep."

"Yes ma'am," The children said in unison, giving their parents a salute and running away giggling. Unbeknownst to them, the parents were smiling proudly.

* * *

The sun had barely risen the next morning, but the two neighbouring households were awake already. The sky was dark with only a few stars twinkling. The parents of both households were standing outside next to a parked taxi, along with a barely awake Hajime.

"Now Hajime, be a nice boy and don't make any trouble, okay?"

"Yes, kaa-san"

Hajime's mother nudged him towards the Takenaka parents, Hiroko's mother gently telling him to go wait inside. After bidding his parents farewell, a little bit teary eyed (although he tried to hide this from the adults), he approached the front door.

Hiroko and Hideaki, who were so not stealthily watching the scene in the shadows from the window, ran to the door to greet Hajime.

They opened the door to see a drowsy Hajime rubbing his eyes with his right arm. He was dressed in a plain pastel blue shirt and white baggy shorts. Hajime then realised that he was being stared at expectantly and dropped his arm smiling sheepishly.

"Hey."

The two siblings grinned at him wordlessly. They each grabbed one of him arms, pulled him in and shut the door. They dragged him into the living room and watched their parents from the windows.

The Iwaizumis and the Takenakas bid each other farewell and Hiroko's parents wished them a safe trip. Hajime's dad put his duffel bag into the front seat and then joined his wife at the back.

Hiroko's parents turned and began to walk back into the house. The children ran and seated themselves at the sofa. The parents came and looked at them.

"Hiroko's going to share Hide's room for now because it's big enough to contain typhoon they're concocting in there. Hajime, you'll be using Hiroko's room if that's okay with you. It's big even for one person."

"It's fine. Thank you," Hajime beamed respectfully, dipping his head a bit. Hiroko made a face. Her mother glared at her.

Hiroko and Hideaki returned to Hideaki's room to resume their slumber, Hiroko having to lay out a futon for herself beside her younger brother's bed.

* * *

Hajime found himself staring at the interior of Hiroko's room. Although he's been in here many times, he's never really had the luxury to take a proper look at it, without anybody else in the room with him.

The walls were a plain colour, although the white walls seemed have developed a slightly yellow tint over the years, with grey bruises especially closer to the floor. There weren't any posters or anything on the walls at all that could've hinted at Hiroko's interests.

Across the room from the door was a double sliding window. Pushed against the right corner next to the windows was a low laying mahogany bed. _'_ _That's new_ ', Iwaizumi thought, vaguely recalling that Hiroko only had a futon before. The white sheets messily covered the bed and the sloppily folded blanket was simply thrown across the flattened pillows.

Pushed up against the left corner, on the other side of the window, lay a study desk. Right next to the door was a large cabinet that stood against the wall. Hajime knew that it not only contained her wardrobe, but her large assortment of books, her arts and crafts materials, and her collection of scholastic and extra-curricular awards over the years.

He walked up to the bed, glancing at the desk again that was heavily littered with balls of paper and books that were most definitely related to the material they were learning at school. On her desk lay a heavily dissected miniature wooden with tubes sticking from its open chest leaking something that had a strong appealing aroma. Some more unused tubes were placed next to it along with a bottle of camphor oil.

A toolbox was placed under the desk overflowing with knives, measuring tapes, screwdrivers and other stuff. It was barely visible, hidden patially with more balls of crumpled papers and even torn pages from travel, food and sports mags with scribbles and circled texts. He knew that she valued even 'what looked like trash to others' and had seen her throw fits whenever someone tried to clean up or even organize her things.

Hajime was curious to see what Hiroko was up to, but feeling weary again decided to do it some other time and fell asleep, only to be woken up a few hours by the Takenaka siblings arguing about who was going to wake him up right outside the room.

* * *

 **~A/N~**

So my tweaks are changing the direction of the original story. The original author came up with the Iwaizumi staying over but the original published story ended at this chapter, so I'm taking over mostly now.

Thanks for reading and following. Ya'll are the MVPs of my day. Also for reviewing again, it means the world to me ( _geneee_ and _bla_ ). I'm a bit later than I expected, but I'll try to update again before the weekend if I have time between school and procrastination ;)

 _Bla: Update's up! Thanks for waiting and I hope you liked this chappie too!_

 **A/N (Papillon Mystere):** I don't really know the name of Iwaizumi's mum, so I just made something up.

Anyways, enjoy!


	4. Chapter 4 - Crush

Chapter 4 - Crush

Iwaizumi slipped out of the room behind Hideaki. How they didn't notice him pass them by, was beyond him. They probably were just so taken up in their argument that they hardly noticed anything going on around them. And as amusing as he found this (although he would never admit it out loud), he reminded himself that he didn't have his school uniform, toiletries or his school bag with him.

He vaguely remembered his mother handing Hiroko's his luggage, or maybe it was just his imagination. Either way, he really needed to get his stuff.

He walked into the kitchen where Hiroko's dad was sitting around the breakfast table, a file of papers in his hand being held up mere inches from his face, a red pen in between his teeth and his glasses nearly falling off his nose. His one hand was holding up the papers while the other was unconsciously or not, dipping and lifting a bag of tea over and over a cup of steaming hot water.

Hiroko's mom was at the stove, her back to the door, stirring something with one hand, while balancing a pot of milk on the same arm, and then a couple of plates with her other. Her one foot was sweeping the floor underneath and around her with a wet rag.

It wasn't Iwaizumi's first time seeing people multitask. Especially the Takenaka's. But he couldn't even believe that Hiroko's mom could still balance all that without falling over.

He waited for her as she finally stopped sweeping and carried the wok in which she was stirring something earlier, to the table. She quickly and carefully (if those two words ever complimented each other), placed all the objects she was balancing on the table while greeting Iwaizumi.

"Good morning Hajime-chan. Did you get any sleep since your parents left?"

"I slept well. Thank you, oba-san."

"Mhm. Wait a sec. HIRO! HIDE! BREAKFAST IS READY! IF YOU DON"T STOP FIGHTING, DAD WILL EAT YOUR SHARE!" Hiroko's mom took a gulp of air. Then in a sweet voiced asked, "Hungry, darling?"

The shouting from the siblings' argument in the hallway seemed to have died down, Instead, it was replaced with squeals of protests, and padding of running feet. In less than a second, the two were in plain sight, and running towards their seats.

"Oba-chan, I need my clothes?" Iwaizumi asked as politely and directly as he could.

Hiroko's mom went into an 'Oh' for an instant, then pulled on a reassuring smile and said that his mom left some things with them. She dashed out of the room, coming back with a duffel bag. Iwaizumi opened it, finding two sets of his school uniform, toiletries and some plain comfort clothes.

"Nothing else?"

"Just this. Yoriko-san said everything you need for the next two days is here, and that if you need anything else, she gave me a spare of your house key." Hiroko's mom pointed at a key rack next to the kitchen's entrance. Iwaizumi noted a starfish plushie keychain that belonged to his mother.

"My schoolbag..."

"Of course! She might've forgotten. Hiroko, Hide! You better be done eating when I come back. Anata, please put your papers down and eat first. Hajime-chan, let's go."

* * *

"Hajime nii-san, when are your parents coming back?"

"Hajime nii-san, are you really going to stay with us?"

"Hajime nii-san, are you really going to stay in nee-san's room the whole time?"

"Hajime nii-san, did mama and papa adopt you?"

"Hajime nii-san, is Tooru nii-san going to come over too?

After Hiroko's mom helped him get his school bag from his place, she got a call from the bank and had to go in hurry over some problem. With nobody to take Hideaki to school, Hiroko and Iwaizumi were left with the task.

"Hide, will you shut it? Hajime doesn't care. And hurry up, will you!?" Hiroko scolded her brother yet again. Since, she had to take a detour from her stop that was in the opposite direction, she was pretty frustrated that she would have to run all the way back.

The three of them weren't exactly running, or even jogging for that matter. If anything, it would probably go under speed-walking, and it was taking the youngest boy all that he had for his small legs to keep up with them.

"Hiroko-san," Iwaizumi started, "you can go now, you know."

"No, no, Hajime. It's fine, really. Let's just get this over with."

"Hey, come on."

"Hajime, enough."

"Let's do this," Iwaizumi commanded, putting his arm out in front of her to stop her. Hideaki came up from behind, panting and sweating like crazy. "We'll split up from her-",. Hiroko made a move to interrupt, but he shushed her. "You won't be able to get to your bus if you go all the way till Hideaki-chan's elementary. His school and mine is in the same direction anyway. And we have plenty of time. You on the other hand, don't. Just trust me on this and go, okay?"

"It's not that I don't trust you, I just don't want to trouble yo-"

"Hiroko."

Just that. No honorifics, nothing else. Just her name. His steady gaze spoke for him. "Go. Trust me. I told you already. It's no problem…"

Hiroko stared back for a split second and turned. "See ya'll later! Stay safe!" And she dashed the other way. Her long legs, taking her farther away.

* * *

Apparently, the assignment that was due today, was collected in the morning before the last bell.

It was just Hiroko's luck that her bus was late, which made her earlier effort seem stupid. And then she also had gone straight to the toilet after arriving, which made her miss the whole thing completely.

"Damn it all." She hissed under her breath as she 'tried' to run through the hallway. There were so many people slipping in and out of their classrooms, making Hiroko's mood hit rock bottom even harder than it already was.

It seemed like forever until Hiroko reached the faculty room. She stopped just outside the door to wipe the sweat from her head and neck with the back and palm of her hand.

Her heart was still palpitating wildly inside her chest and she had to huff a few times as she tried to catch her breath. Straightening her posture, she knocked on the door thrice before opening it.

Her head popped into the room, the rest of her yet to enter. "Arai-sensei?"

Some of the teachers glanced at her shortly before resuming with their work. A couple others were already standing up, no doubt heading to their respective classes for homeroom.

A teacher opened the door wider from inside, and Hiroko stepped aside and bowed her head with a smile as she greeted the teachers that passed her on the way out.

The last of the teachers that filtered out greeted back, causing her to look up at him. "Good morning, Takenaka-san. What is it?"

Arai-sensei was the homeroom teacher of the next class, but had been substituting for their class as well for the past week since their supposed teacher had resigned and the new one has yet to arrive. So he had to keep going back and forth between classes all day until the next week or so.

He was a kind and respectable man, despite his young age. He had a girlfriend apparently who thought in a nearby elementary school from what Hiroko heard. The students only ever talk about it because he was a very handsome man with many admirers throughout the middle school and even high school.

He was very organized, which was sometimes a pain because that meant he never forgot when he set a date for a quiz. It's probably part of this OCD that he had a bit off, which gets him inspecting the point of his pencil every time before he writes, or cleaning the classroom during one of his tests.

Also, he had the most hilarious facial expressions because they always looked more exaggerated than he meant to. He didn't seem to know what brought Hiroko to the faculty room looking for _him_ , drawing out a really confused expression from him that made him look like a lost child.

"The homework," she said slowly, bringing up a paper to his face. "I didn't know they were collecting it." From the look of his face, she knew she was safe before he even replied. To make that a hundred percent, she continued, "Sorry for the trouble, sensei."

"Ah but Takenaka-san." She froze. "I mentioned yesterday that I was collecting it in the morning."

"You didn't specify."

"Oh, sorry," he scratched his chin all the while offering her a guilty smile. "It's my mistake then." He took her paper, skimming through it lightly before looking up at her again. "Okay, just remind your classmates that I won't be there for science later, so I'll move the quiz to next class which is… next week."

"YAS! I mean, of course." Hiroko turned around, only to nearly walk into someone else. "My bad."

"Ushijima-san!" Akai-sensei exclaimed. "What brings you here?"

The silent student that had walked up next to Hiroko, held up a paper with similar content to hers.

"The homework.

Arai-sensei smiled in amusement. "Oh, that's -san here from class 8 came for that too. Takenaka-san, this is Ushijima-san from my class."

"Ushijima Wakatoshi," he greeted in his deep voice.

"I'm Takenaka Hiroko," she replied awkwardly. "Well, I have to go now or I'll be late for homeroom. Bye sensei. Ushijima-san." Hiroko walked away without looking back.

"Bye Takenaka-san. Just tell your classmates to compile the homework if they hadn't passed it yet. Until noon, please."

Hiroko waved in acknowledgement without looking back. With the latter gone, the teacher shifted his complete attention to his other student.

"If you don't try harder, you won't make any friends Ushijima-san. And please turn your homework in on time. This was due since yesterday in our class. I know you got in because of a sports scholarship, but late homeworks on the first week of school aren't a good impression on your academic performance, you know."

"Sorry, sensei."

"You're in the volley-ball club right?" Ushijima nodded. "Well, at least you can learn to socialize more there."

* * *

It was late in the day and everyone in the class was in a frenzy clearing doubts and revising some notes last minute before the teacher came in.

"That's strange," a classmate commented, "Arai-sensei is really late today."

"I hope he never comes in."

"Even if he comes in ten minutes before class ends, we all know he'll still make us do the test. Get back to studying or you'll fail."

"Ah, I think I'm going to fail all my first tests this year."

"Same, man."

"I think I'm going to fail _all my tests_ this year."

The class burst out in laughter.

Hiroko groaned as she put her book down, rubbing her temples. "Why is there so much to do!? They really aren't going easy on us."

There were a few murmurs of agreement. Miho from behind her lightly tapped her head. "But you still got to pass in your homework, right?"

"Yea-"

 _BANG!_

Hiroko stood up so suddenly that her table fell over. "I-I FORGOT! Arai-sensei said he wouldn't come in at all today. The test was moved to Monday."

Her classmates were still shunned in silence since her table fell over. One by one they began to groan and complain, slamming their fists or books on their table.

"Good going," Miho grinned at her putting her book under her desk.

"Argh, why!? Why does bad luck find me attractive that much?"

"Bad luck? Has a _crush_ on _you_? This is my first time seeing someone play the blame game like this." Miho snickered which earned her a punch to the shoulder.

* * *

 **~A/N~**

I'm a bit disappointed cause this chappie feels more like a filler, but I hope ya'll like it. At least Hiroko finally meets Ushiwaka, bwahahahaha. I'll be updating next week, hopefully.

Thanks for reading, following and reviewing!

 _Bla: Don't worry the updates won't slow down (I think). If I get my mess together, maybe the updates might even become more regular this month. Maybe, weekly?_


	5. Chapter 5 - Beneficial Accidents

**Chapter 3: Benificial Accidents**

The day passed by awfully fast, which was both exciting and tiring. Hiroko tried to leave class to catch a chat with Miho, but every time she'd start to get up from her seat during their breaks she'd get spurred away by some of her classmates who wanted to tease her, ask for help or simply strike up awkward conversations.

From what she's heard a lot of her classmates are already getting on each others' bad sides and starting group fights even though they haven't even gone into the first month of school.

It wasn't until lunch that Hiroko was able to leave the classroom without having to engage with any of her classmates the instant she made a move to leave. Miho had left class early to go to the nurse after being caught up in one of the said fights.

Hiroko slipped out of the room before most of the other students started filing out of the classrooms, and so had only a small crowd to push through all the way to the cafeteria.

She slowly made her way back to the back of the line, eyeing her way down it to see if she could find at least Rinka, Miho's long-time friend, whose back she saw earlier ducking out of sight in the stairwell.

As she trailed forward, she occasionally stood on her toes, jumping to see over the increasingly growing ocean of hungry students.

If she didn't leave the cafeteria in the next minute, she'd get stuck with having to work her way through horde of over a hundred first-year students, which might not seem like a big deal but the cafeteria should only be able to host a few hundred students assuming the rest spent their lunches outside the building.

And getting through without bumping into each other while holding up trays overflowing with food is very tough and can get really messy.

The first 10 minutes of lunch was always hell in the cafeteria. Now the school had loads of vending machines that sold from cold and hot snacks all the way to steaming cup ramen and reheated bento boxes. All the beverage machines are free even. FREE.

But none of these could compare to the 3 course meal in a tray, prepared and plated by a culinary team lead by a 5-star professional chef.

Of course, Hiroko had never had the meal set and never even contemplated buying because she had never been the sort to go over the line for something she wanted and the Shiratorizawa cafeteria food was a lot more fancy and overpriced than what she was used too.

Bottled water in her last school's canteen was for the average low of 30 yen.

Here it was for 200 yen.

You don't need math to know how much of a waste it is.

On the other hand, Miho has been having the cafeteria food for 3 days in a row now, and if she's already back from the clinic then Hiroko's betting she'd be among those in the cafeteria.

It was at times like these that Hiroko envied her boys. She's always had a feeling that Oikawa and Iwaizumi had some sort of telepathic communication between them because no matter how far apart they were placed, at the end of the day they would always be by each other.

If there was anything that exists in the world that could tear them from each other it would truly be surprising and disheartening. And Hiroko had long ago decided that she would feel truly sorry for whoever or whatever it is that attempts to come in between them.

It was while looking around clueless with these thoughts in mind that she really got swept up by a portion of the crowd who was heading the opposite direction and she got knocked down to the floor and to her butt, pushing those around her.

A small circle of space around her was instantly cleared as faceless students automatically either steered around her without much care or sneered at her for causing a ruckus.

Someone must've fallen with her but she barely glanced at him muttering apologies over and over again instead. Picking herself of the ground, Hiroko raised her head only for it to bump against someone else's who might've been doing the same thing.

A dozen more 'sorry's flew out of her mouth until the other guy exclaimed, "Hiroko Takenaka-chan?"

"That's just Takenaka-san to you," she eyed him suspiciously. "Stalker much?"

"Oh, no, no! I'm a friend of Rinka's. Miho's told me so much about you."

'I bet she


End file.
